Page 18 of Not a Strong Enough Word

The ding of an incoming email snaps me back to reality. Assuming it’s the author whose work I just sent over with a quick thank-you, I hover my cursor idly over the alert, but Scarlett’s name on the notification has me scrambling to click open the full email.

From: Scarlett Frye

To: Ryan Whitlock

Subject: MS Notes

Ryan,

Respectfully, have you lost your mind? The bicycle is integral to the story and cannot possibly be omitted.

I will, however, begrudgingly admit that the rest of your notes are spot on, as usual.

—Scarlett

The bark of laughter I let out is so loud, Margie pokes her head in from the hallway.

“Everything okay?”

I clear my throat and brush a piece of lint off my sleeve. “Yes. I got a funny email is all.”

“Oh, okay,” she says. “You don’t laugh very often, so I had to make sure.” Then, she pops out of my field of vision.

I frown at the space her head just occupied, thinking about that for a moment. She’s right, though I’ve never noticed that I don’t laugh often when I’m here. It has me thinking about how often I laugh when I’m not here. I’m sad to admit it’s not as often as I’d like. Thankfully, before I can go too far down that rabbit hole, another incoming email dings.

From: Scarlett Frye

To: Ryan Whitlock

Subject: Re: MS Notes

Ryan,

Sorry about my brash question. I will be more professional in the future. But the bike stays.

—S

I don’t waste any time typing up a reply.

From: Ryan Whitlock

To: Scarlett Frye

Subject: Re: MS Notes

Scarlett,

No apology necessary. Your candor has brought some levity to an otherwise dreary day.

I may have lost my mind, but it would be unrelated to this. I don’t have a problem with the bike specifically. Surely you can see that you have multiple objects that are accomplishing the same thing; they all symbolize growing up, coming of age. By getting rid of one, you would strengthen the others. Do you have a suggestion for a different one that could go?

—Ryan

It’s not strictly necessary for me to ask her opinion. A seasoned writer like Scarlett who has been through this process before might even read it as rhetorical—something to think about and nothing more—and not respond. She knows she can reject changes I suggest if she has good reasons. But I tell myself that I want to keep this line of communication open in case she needs more direction, even though I know, deep down, I want her to respond for entirely different reasons. So I am delighted a few moments later when she does.

From: Scarlett Frye

To: Ryan Whitlock